Tyson Murray AFP child abuse material sting: Charlestown man jailed for sharing image in Kik

Charlestown man Tyson Murray told a court he had first looked up child abuse material five years before he took a photograph of a naked baby and passed it on using a messenger app.

A man who traded child abuse material online, including a photograph he took of a naked baby, has been sentenced to a maximum 22 months in jail.

Tyson Murray, now aged 23, admitted to authorities he first began looking at child abuse material when he was 15.

He was arrested as part of an Australian Federal Police sting in 2020.

Murray, the son of two heroin addicts who told the court he was sexually abused as a very young boy, admitted to three charges and asked a fourth count to be taken into account when he was sentenced in Newcastle District Court on Friday.

He admitted taking a photograph of an eight-month-old baby and sending it to others in a group on the Kik messaging app.

Tyson Murray being arrested by Australian Federal Police officers. Credit: AFP

He also admitted to passing on videos and pictures depicting the sexual abuse of very young girls when privately prompted by some of the 50 members on the group chat.

The court heard the group chat members would “trade” the horrific images and videos.

Murray and co-offender Rhiannon Hugo were nabbed following an investigation where the AFP had received a referral from United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that an internet user believed to be based in Australia was transmitting child abuse material over the chat platform Kik.

Investigations by the AFP Eastern Command Child Protection Operations team identified Murray, living in Charlestown, as the user of the account before they raided his home on November 6, 2020.

Hugo, of East Maitland, pleaded guilty to sending Murray child abuse material and was sentenced last year to a maximum 18 months behind bars.

Tyson Murray being arrested by Australian Federal Police officers. Credit: AFP

The court heard on Friday that Murray had suffered a horrific childhood and poor schooling, grew up as a loner without friends and continued to suffer a range of ongoing mental health issues.

He had first looked at child abuse material as a teenager and continued, especially when drug affected.

“It disgusts me,’’ Murray told Judge Christopher O’Brien while giving evidence at his sentencing hearing.

“I can’t believe that was me, When people google me that is the first thing people [will] see of me.”

Judge O’Brien said Murray had shown remorse and gave him a 25 per cent discount on his sentence because of an early guilty plea.

But he rejected Murray’s defence team’s submission for him to dodge a jail term because of his ongoing mental health problems, his lack of a criminal history and other factors.

“It is not all about him,” Judge O’Brien told the court.

He said although the baby would not have known they had had a photograph taken of them and that the image did not show the baby’s face, the baby’s parents would have suffered “understandable distress”.

He decreased the minimum term of imprisonment to 12 months and ordered Murray to be issued a recognisance release order upon him leaving jail.